Book excerpt: Mariah's future is hopeless. Or so it seems, until she receives an offer to teach school in Cedar Bend, Kansas. Thirty-six-year-old spinster Mariah Casey accepts the new position and prays the Lord will bring her someone to love. The Lord answers with an orphaned four-year-old named Hope, a family, and friends. Surely, romance is too much to ask for... Widower and rancher Sherman Butler has committed his life to Christ and his daughter Carrie. When Miss Casey arrives and clashes with Carrie, Sherm is torn between his heart and his family. He longs to love her, yet she avoids him. Could Carrie's harshness be the reason? Will wounded hearts refuse the Lord's way of peace? Or could Mariah's hope lie in a future with Sherm?